Confirmed Celebrity Guests for Third Spa-Con in Hot Springs

Sean Maher, star of the hit movie “Serenity” and the TV series “Arrow,” leads the list of the first three celebrity guests announced today for the Third Annual Spa-Con multi-genre comic and pop culture convention scheduled September 21 – 23 in Hot Springs.

Also confirmed today are celebrity guests Arvell Jones, a renowned illustrated for Marvel Comics, and Nightengale Vixon, the well-known cosplay performer who will be making her second visit to Spa-Con.

“We will have more than two dozen celebrity guests at this third edition of Spa-Con, and it is going to be the greatest convention we’ve had so far,” said Bill Solleder, marketing director for Visit Hot Springs and one of the organizers of Spa-Con.

“We had over 5,000 people in attendance last year,” Solleder said, “and our guests included appearances by Shannon Purser of ‘Stranger Things’ and Sherilyn Fenn and Sheryl Lee of ‘Twin Peaks.’

“We already know we are going to have the most exciting lineup of stars we’ve ever had, and we’ll be announcing the other celebrity guests in the coming days.”

Spa-Con, presented by Visit Hot Springs and the Garland County Library, will be held at the Hot Springs Convention Center, with an array of activities that will include laser tag, an escape room, video games, panel discussions, workshops, cosplay contests and interaction with the celebrity guests.

Sean Maher is well known to television and film audiences for his role as Dr. Simon Tam’in Joss Whedon’s feature film “Serenity,” which was based on the critically acclaimed series “Firefly.” He most recently appeared in the Season 2 finale of “Looking” for HBO, and played as Mark Scheffer (aka Shrapnel) on the hit series “Arrow” for The CW. He is also the voice of “Nightwing’”for the Warner Bros./DC Comics animated universe.

Arvell Jones is known for drawing the martial arts superhero, “Iron Fist,” and co-created the character “Misty Knight,” along with Tony Isabella, for the “Iron Fist” series.

Morgan Durfee, who portrays a cosplay character named Nightingale Vixen, has been to Spa-Con before.

“This will be my second time attending Spa Con,” she said “and I can’t wait to be back at the most interactive and fun convention I’ve ever attended.”

She says she has been cosplaying for about three years and “to me cosplay is more than just a hobby; it is a passion and an outlet for creativity.” She is a full-time children’s and teen librarian at her local library in Ohio, where for the last 10 years she has done the artwork and displays and works with teens in the library’s maker space. She also is the Baby Story Time teacher for kids aged 2 and younger.